A simple spice cake, spiked with bourbon and then more bourbon, baked in a fancy bundt pan. It might look plain, but the cake and glaze are so good together, I promise you won’t need anything else. It’s the perfect cake to make in this cool fall weather, since both the spices and the bourbon will warm you right up and make you feel cozy.
Is it too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving recipes? Too bad. I’ve said before that I’m a more of a cake person than a pie person, and I can see this spice cake being right at home on a Thanksgiving table. With the magic of a bundt pan, you can make a simple cake look spectacular, without having to do any extra work.
The spices in the cake will make you think of cool evenings by the fire, and the bourbon is, well, bourbon. I don’t like to drink whiskey (or any other brown liquor for that matter), but I love the taste it gives to baked goods. All of the good flavor without any hangover? That’s a win-win in my book. But know that the alcohol isn’t fully cooked out of the glaze, so don’t share this one with the kids.
Recipe adapted from Hummingbird High.
- 3 cups cake flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup bourbon whiskey
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- For the bourbon glaze:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup bourbon whiskey
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and generously butter every nook and cranny of a 10-cup bundt pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and other spices. Set aside. Whisk together the buttermilk and bourbon and set aside.
- In a large bowl and with a hand mixer, beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and beat one minute more. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next.
- Switch the mixer to low speed and add a third of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk mixture. Keep alternating until everything is incorporated, being careful not to overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a tester inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- To make the glaze, combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves.
- Poke holes all over the top (what will be the bottom) of the cake. Spread ¾ of the glaze over the top, making sure it gets into the holes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes.
- Flip the cake out onto a cooling rack and brush the rest of the glaze over the top.
